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The politicians competing for City Hall’s top post have given new attention to local schools, leaving many to wonder if 2012 will deliver San Diego’s first education mayor.

The four major mayoral candidates have included varying levels of education plans in their platforms — from aggressive reforms and governance changes to stepped up support and friendly collaborations.

The leading contenders for mayor will discuss their education intentions Tuesday during a debate sponsored by the Center for Education Policy and Law at the University of San Diego and U-T San Diego from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. The event will be moderated by Juan Williams, political analyst for Fox News and a former senior correspondent and news analyst for National Public Radio.

(The debate on the USD campus will stream live on utsandiego.com. Use the hashtag #edmayor to follow on Twitter. The seats in the auditorium are all spoken for.)

Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher was the first candidate to claim education as an official issue of the mayor’s race. His schools plan would set up a foundation to help bridge the digital divide.

District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis has presented a more sweeping proposal that would give the mayor a strong role in the city school system.

Fletcher and Dumanis have drawn the other two major candidates — City Councilman Carl DeMaio and Rep. Bob Filner — into education at a time when more mayors are eyeing local schools as a key responsibility.

Since California’s Constitution assigns power over local education to elected school boards, it’s uncertain what will come of this movement. What’s more, San Diego voters appear conflicted over how much control they should give City Hall when it comes to schools.

About two-thirds of voters oppose a mayoral takeover of schools, yet nearly three-quarters of them believe it’s appropriate to use city resources to help public education, according to a recent poll from the Center for Education Policy and Law and U-T San Diego.

Although education has taken on a more prominent role in mayoral campaigns this year, outgoing Mayor Jerry Sanders -- a Dumanis supporter -- helped kick off a statewide conversation on the matter last year when former Washington, D.C., schools chief Michelle Rhee and Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson launched the California Mayors in Education Forum at the University of San Diego.

Johnson and Rhee (who are married) have taken their listening tour throughout the state in an effort to get more mayors interested in education issues.

The campaign discussion comes amid deep budget problems for the San Diego Unified School District.

During this roller coaster of school year, the district riled up parents by threatening to close schools only to shelve that plan; issued warnings that it’s on the brink of insolvency only to recant that statement; then sent more than 1,600 teacher layoff notices to cope with the state’s fiscal crisis and to meet terms of union contracts that call for hefty raises next school year.

All four candidates support a combination of efforts to increase school volunteerism, expand student internship programs, strengthen community and business collaborations, develop more after-school opportunities and upgrade school technology.

Bonnie Dumanis

Dumanis, a Republican, offers the most aggressive and detailed schools proposal. Her plan includes:

• Reviving an effort that failed to make the ballot last year to amend the city charter to allow four appointed trustees to join the five-member elected school board — a change not favored by a majority of voters in the USD/U-T San Diego poll.

• Establishing a independent fiscal advisory board (resembling one the district already has) to monitor the district’s budget, and give parents input in union negotiations.

• Bringing an education liaison to City Hall

• Opposing local or state tax measures to generate revenue for schools.

Carl DeMaio

DeMaio, a Republican, has said education is vital, but the next mayor needs to focus on the city’s own financial concerns first. He wants to:

• Set up more gang-prevention efforts and combat neighborhood crime

• Provide career training for 5,000 high school students.

He criticized class sizes as too large, even though San Diego Unified has fought to keep class sizes manageable in the earliest grades — especially at high-poverty elementary schools — while many other districts have seen their class sizes rise in recent years. That could change under the district’s budget that would pack as many desks into a classroom allowed under the law.

DeMaio has lamented that pension and administrative costs take away from student programs. Unlike the city, however, San Diego Unified pays into a separate state teachers retirement fund.

Nathan Fletcher

Fletcher, who recently made headlines for quitting the Republican Party to run as an independent, is the only candidate with young children. He presented a schools plan that draws on his own military experience. Among his suggestions:

• Establishing a foundation to help generate education money for technology efforts.

• Creating new specialized academies that focus on the military and innovation

• Giving every K-12 student in the city an Internet-ready device by 2016.

Bob Filner

Filner, the lone Democrat in the race, may be most familiar with the District. A former college professor, he served on the San Diego school board. He has not released a detailed education plan.

Filner wants the mayor to support schools — not take control of them. Unlike some of his opponents, who have attempted to quantify the school district’s failings, Filner has chosen to champion the “good things” in local schools.

The mayor, Filner said, should:

• Promote schools by lobbying for support and funding, including redevelopment money.

• Give students free access to public buses and trolleys for their school commute.

• Establish more joint-use recreational collaborations between the city and district.